Well, designer Ali Fateh gives us an idea. He recently came out with his handbag collection “Steampunk Elegance.” Fateh, a prominent designer known for his luxury handbags, premiered this collection back in July. The handbags boast elegant lines, bejeweled designs, and metal motifs.

Image courtesy of Maram & Aabroo. Click for more info

Fateh received his degree in fashion from the International Fine Arts College in Maimi, Florida, and then lived and worked in New York as a designer for several years. In 2002, he decided to return to Pakistan. There, he spotted a rising trend in luxury items, especially handbags, and turned his design skills to creating a distinctive line of goods featuring sleek designs and vibrant colors. As his international reputaion grew, his work has been featured on runways for Paris Couture Week, 2007, Bridal Asia, Delhi, Hong Kong, New York , Fall/Winter 09 Bahrain Fashion Week, Fall/Winter 09 Dubai Fashion Fiesta, and Islamabad Fashion Week 2011.

Image courtesy of Maram & Aabroo. Click for more info.

What remains equally gorgeous to his handbags is the photoshoot created around them, featuring talented work from accomplished women in their respective industries: photographers Maram & Aabroo and actress Aamina Sheikh.

The model featured above is Aamina Sheikh, a young rising TV and film star in Pakistan. Born in New York City, Sheikh spent her childhood between Karachi and Riyadh, and she returned to the US to get her degree in video production from Hampshire College. Afterward, she returned to Pakistan where she worked as a children’s television producer behind the show Bachey Man Ke Sachey. In 2007, she landed her first TV role in the telefilm Gurmuch Singh ki Waseeyat, and the success of that show soon landed her other prominent teledrama and film roles in Pakistan.

Aamina Sheikh posing at a Maram & Aabroo shoot. Click for more info.

Maram Azmat & Aabroo Hashimi are a female duo of make-up artists and fashion photographers based in Pakistan, and the only all-female team in the country. Both women run the studio Boudoir and have worked at a variety of print and media platforms in Pakistan. They had been friends since childhood and both studied at Kinnaird College in Lahore and then pursued their Masters of the Arts at Punjab University. After graduation, they set up their studio in Lahore and soon called attention to themselves for their unique eye for the arts. In 2008, they won the MTV Style Award for their music video work. They spend their time between Lahore and New York City, and recently, they paired up with Shuaib Nasir and Sameer Rashid Shami to form Masscot Films to produce their own music video, film and fashion projects.

Recent work by Maram & Aabroo. Click for more info.

But of course, a great team makes great work, period. Here are more photos from the “Steampunk Elegance” Collection.

About Beyond Victoriana

The Nutshell ExplanationBeyond Victoriana is the oldest-running blog about multicultural steampunk and retro-futurism--that is, steampunk outside of a Western-dominant, Eurocentric framework. Founded in 2009, Beyond Victoriana focuses on non-Western cultures, underrepresented minorities in Western histories (Asian / Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, First Nation, Hispanic, black / African & other marginalized identities), and the cultural intersection between the West and the non-West.